


This Is Halloween

by adamsnackler



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BEN LIKES PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING, Child Abandonment, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Halloween, I Tried, I'm Bad At Titles, Orphan Rey (Star Wars), Protective Ben Solo, Soft Ben Solo, Tags Are Hard, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, What Have I Done, background coffee shop au lololololol, background kaydel, background stormpilot, flipped all the reylo tropes ok, rey drinks black coffee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27314326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adamsnackler/pseuds/adamsnackler
Summary: Rey has no idea what Halloween is. The orphanage she grew up in barely had the resources to feed and shelter all the children, let alone celebrate holidays. Good thing Ben Solo, Halloween Enthusiast, lives right across the hall.[Based on mycrack tweetfrom this morning.]
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 71





	This Is Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> Got it into my head to write this for Halloween today so naturally spent the next three hours writing it. Anyway hope someone out there enjoys it!<3
> 
> HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

October 31st started just like any other day for Rey Niima. She woke up, drank her morning coffee (no cream or sugar, just enough caffeine to get the job done), read the headlines, and ate her usual weekend breakfast of eggs and toast. Throwing her hair up in a sloppy ponytail she tied her running shoes maybe just a tad too tight and set out for her morning jog through the park.

That’s when she first noticed there was something strange going on.

A cool autumnal wind blew through the air, bringing with it the scent of burning leaves and the reminder that winter was not far off. Rey welcomed it as she jogged through the park, dodging the dog-walkers and nannies pushing babies in strollers. When she first saw it, she nearly tripped over her own feet. She paused, doubling over to rest her hands on her knees, as she double checked to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Sure enough, there across the park playing in the grass was a group of children, dressed up in various make-believe attire, playing some wild game of… dress-up-tag? Shaking her head, she straightens. Kids do the darnedest things.

Resuming her jog, she tries to shake the image from her mind. Unsuccessfully, it turns out, as she’s plagued with a series of unanswered questions. Like, for starters, why none of the outfits seemed to go together? What dress up game mixed pirates and zombies with vampires and witches? And what was the deal with the one wearing green face paint with screws sticking out of their neck? That one in particular seemed a little morbid for a children’s game.

Chalking it up to yet another American oddity, she finished her run and returned to her apartment building. The elevator doors opened onto her floor with the usual _ding_ and Rey made her way down the long hallway towards her unit. There were an unusual amount of autumn decorations, pumpkins lining the narrow walkway making it nearly an obstacle course just to get to her door. Rey herself loved a good roast pumpkin, and the seeds were an easy snack. She made a mental note to check Trader Joe’s later to see if they were having a sale. That would certainly explain the pumpkin patch that her hallway had turned into.

After taking a long hot bath, the one weekly luxury she allowed herself every Saturday, Rey set about her usual weekend routine of cleaning and tidying the small apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was all hers and she was proud of it. Moving to the states had been challenging, but it was nothing compared to the challenge of growing up in a neglectful orphanage. As soon as she could she was out on the streets, hustling and taking any job she could find under the table so that she could scrimp and save and finally journey to the states.

Now that she was here, she realized how lonely her life was, and she was beginning to seek something more than just stability. Something like a family, a home. Sure she had friends at work, her two closest friends Finn and Poe were very nice, but they didn’t really _know_ her. Maybe it was her fault for not really being able to let anyone in, but at times it felt like no one would ever really understand her.

Once the apartment was spick and span, she decided to venture to a nearby coffee shop for a dark roast and some light reading. Maybe if she was lucky her cute neighbor from across the hall would be working and give her a free scone like he usually did when she came in. Walking into the coffee shop she tried not to let her heart sink when she saw the pretty blonde girl working behind the counter instead of her tall mysterious neighbor with the cute dimples and dark wavy hair.

“Hi!” the blonde, Kaydel, according to her name badge, said. “What can I brew for you on this spook-tacular day?”

Rey was just she had misheard, or the girl had misspoke. Regardless, she ignored the slip and placed her order. After paying, she took her black coffee over to a cozy armchair and curled up to read her favorite book, _Pride and Prejudice_ , for the umpteenth time.

An hour or so passed before she heard it, the low deep baritone of a man’s voice, placing an order for a large pumpkin spice latte with extra whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Rey peaked up from behind her book and watched him, her neighbor from across the hall. _Ben_ , she had learned form his name badge upon her first visit to the shop. He chatted amicably with Kaydel as he waited for his order, too sweet for Rey’s taste. She had never really developed a taste for sugar, and frankly the entire purpose of coffee was to caffeinate her. It wasn’t meant to be _enjoyed_.

She watched him from her hiding spot in the corner, tucked away just out of his view, as he collected his order, waved goodbye to his coworkers, and exited the shop just as a group of rowdy coeds entered. They were dressed in risqué costumes, one girl a bunny of some kind, another a unicorn, yet another what Rey presumed was a cat but was really just a leotard with a tail and headband with ears on it. Each girl wore as little clothing as possible, shivering in the increasingly chilly night, as they stumbled up to the counter to order.

Maybe these girls were part of some hazing ritual? There were several universities in the city and perhaps this was all part of some Greek Week activity. Still it reminded Rey of the children from earlier that day in the park. Before she could linger on the notion for long the door to the shop opened yet again, and it appeared that the guys now entering the coffeeshop were part of the same event as the girls. They too were dressed in ridiculous outfits. One of them literally wore an outfit that looked like a bottle of disgusting domestic beer that Rey absolutely couldn’t stand the taste of.

Something strange was going on, that was for certain. Closing her book, Rey decided to pack it up and head home for the night, before anything else unusual occurred. The chilly day had turning into a frigid night, and Rey tucked her head down, bracing against the wind as she trained her eyes on the sidewalk below and set off towards her apartment.

Once safely inside her warm apartment, she changed into her pajamas, microwaved some ramen, and curled up on the couch to find a movie to watch. Peculiar, Netflix seemed to be recommending a plethora of horror films tonight. Rey shook her head and grimaced. She hated horror films. What was the point? Who actually _enjoyed_ being scared? Rey had spent too much of her life living in actual fear, she didn’t need it to be part of her leisure activities as well.

Turning off the television, she finished her ramen and pondered what to do with her evening, when suddenly there was a sharp knock at her door. Brow furrowed in confusion she opened the door to find a group of small children, like the ones from the park, dressed up and holding out buckets and bags.

“Trick or treat!” they shouted, giggling.

“Um… sorry?” was all Rey could muster in response.

The teenager accompanying the small group of miscreants looked up from their phone, clearly paying as little attention as possible, and stared at her. “Did you run out of candy or something?” they asked.

“Candy?”

The teen rolled their eyes, snapping their gum and shepherded the group towards the next door, the one across the hallway from her own. Rey watched in confusion as the children repeated the steps: knocking on the door, followed by the squeals and screams of “trick or treat!” once Ben had opened the door.

He laughed down at them, towering over them in his own strange outfit, all black with a long black cape and a staggering scar across his face. Rey watched as he handed them each candy from a large bowl that was shaped like a pumpkin with a face on it, baffled by everyone’s newfound obsession with the produce.

Once the children had moved on towards their next victim, Ben looked up, catching Rey staring from her doorway. She blushed, looking down at her feet and biting her lower lip.

“Hi,” he said jovially.

“Hey.”

“Where’s your costume?”

She looked up at him. “My what?”

“Your costume,” he repeated. “Or… Oh is this it? Are you going for a… some type of sleepover themed thing?”

Rey felt her cheeks grow impossibly red as she realized she was standing in her ratty pajama pants and a too-thin tank top in her very public, or at least sort of public, hallway.

“Uhh, no I’m just getting ready for bed,” she stammered. “Or at least, I mean, I’m not actually going to bed but you know… I didn’t think I’d have to interact with other humans anymore tonight.”

His brow twisted in confusion.

The elevator dinged and Rey cast a glance down the hallway. Another swarm of children dressed in costumes made their way into the hallway, rowdy and giddy and probably hyped up on too much sugar if they were eating the plethora of candy they received.

“What on earth is going on?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s Halloween.” He said it slowly, allowing her to take in the words.

Halloween.

Rey tried to process it, attempting to figure out what it meant as to not come off as a complete idiot. Hall, that part made sense, they were in a hall. Ween she wasn’t so sure about. Wee could mean small? So maybe Halloween meant… she glanced at the group by the elevator, small children in hallways? That did seem to describe what was currently happening.

Nodding, she turned back to Ben. “Right. Halloween.”

“It’s mostly just an excuse to dress up in costumes. Kids go trick-or-treating to get free candy. Some people have parties. Teenagers play ding-dong-ditch.”

Rey continued to nod, pretending that the words Ben was saying made any sense to her as the gears in her brain twisted to put it all together.

“When I was a teenager I loved ding-dong-ditch. We did it to my principal one year. Put a bag of dog crap on his doorstep then rang his doorbell and ran.” He laughed at the memory.

Rey looked up at him. “Dog crap?”

“To be fair, he was a total asshole,” he laughed. “It’s Rey, right? You come into the shop sometimes. I’m Ben.” He bit his lip, regarding her, as if trying to read her mind. Eventually he seemed to make up his mind and gestured to the bowl of candy, adding, “I have extra candy if you want some to hand out? Or you can put up a sign on your door letting people know not to knock.”

“Candy. Right.” Halloween. Where kids dressed up in costumes and got free candy.

Wait. _Free_ _candy_?

Ben watched her with a concerned expression on his face, looking at her like he worried she might pass out or have a stroke or just go completely insane at any moment.

Which, frankly, was valid, considering she had made it to twenty-two years of age and somehow had missed out on the tradition that was Halloween.

Of course she had _heard_ of Halloween, it just wasn’t something she was particularly familiar with or interested in. They certainly didn’t celebrate holidays at the orphanage she grew up in and there really wasn’t time for such frivolities as she worked and saved to be able to start a new life in the states. Somehow she had missed out on the tradition entirely. And… wait a minute.

“Did you said free? People give out free candy to children?”

Ben nodded slowly, and if he had been worried about her before the tears welling in her eyes certainly didn’t help. Hesitantly he closed the gap between them, crossing the hallway in one stride with his long legs. He reached his arms out but didn’t touch her, allowing her to decide if she needed the contact.

With a dam of tears threatening to cascade down her face at any moment, Rey looked up at him with wide eyes. “Yeah, I’d like to pass out candy.”

Giving her a wide smile that dimpled his cheeks and creased his eyes, Ben nodded back at her. She closed the gap between them, allowing herself to feel vulnerable for the first time, and sighed as the safety of his strong arms wrapped around her, protecting her. For some reason, being held like this in his arms made her feel something. Something that fluttered in her stomach and felt warm and familiar. Somehow she knew that she was safe, that if she was here with him in this moment she was on the right path.

Time passed and whether it was minutes or hours Rey wasn’t sure, but eventually she pulled away, wiping away her last lingering tears.

Ben gestured back to his apartment. “I can get some candy for you,” he offered. “Or… Or if you’d like, you can come over and hand out candy with me? We can make you a ghost costume out of an old bedsheet. That’s a classic.”

Rey was sure she had never smiled so wide in her whole entire life.

She nodded and followed Ben back across the hall into his apartment. It smelled like pumpkin and cinnamon and nutmeg and _warm_ and it made her feel instantly at home. The apartment itself was nearly an identical layout to her own, but his felt so much more cozy. Lived in. _Homey_. He had blankets and pillows and dark wood accents. Candles burned and a spooky movie was paused on the flatscreen television.

Ben grabbed a white sheet from the linen closet and proceeded to cut two small holes in it. “Now you can see,” he said, draping it over her and adjusting it so just her wide hazel eyes were visible. “Perfect!”

“Am I a ghost now?” Rey asked with a giggle.

He frowned, contemplating. “Well, there’s one test you have to pass to truly become a ghost.”

“Oh?”

“What do ghosts say?”

Rey cocked her head up at him, causing the sheet to twist and cover her eyes. For a moment she saw only the stark white of the sheet over her eyes until she felt strong, steady hands pull it right, adjusting it for her.

“Ghosts say _boo_ , Rey.” His voice was kind and soft, barely audible through the sheet.

“Boo,” she breathed. Why did she suddenly feel so _warm_. It was like he was intoxicating, just his mere presence making her whole body do something new. _Feel_ something new.

He chuckled. “Good girl.”

Walking towards the couch, he grabbed the television remote and resumed the movie. “I was watching _Hocus Pocus_. Have you ever seen it?”

Rey shook her head. “I don’t like scary movies.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, patting the seat next to him on the couch. “This one isn’t too scary. And I’m right here to keep you safe.”

Smiling, Rey felt her cheeks flush at his words, and she was thankful that he couldn’t see through the sheet covering her face. She joined him on the couch, curling up on the seat next to him. They watched the movie in anything but silence, laughing and talking, Ben sharing Halloween stories from his childhood and answering all of Rey’s questions.

At one point Rey suddenly turned to face Ben, going completely serious for a moment amongst the fits of laughter. “Ben,” she said solemnly. “I just realized I have absolutely no idea what you’re costume is.”

Ben’s face grew a fierce shade of crimson. “I uh, it’s sort of… Well, I… I kinda write and draw comics and this one character I came up with, I don’t know he’s sort of me, or, who I needed growing up, and… Well he made a lot of mistakes but he met this girl, Kira, and she kinda made him believe in himself again, like as long as he’s with her he’s on the right path. And he fights this evil group, the First Order, and… Yeah, this is his outfit. I know, it’s stupid to dress up as something no one but you even knows but…”

Rey shook her head, throwing the sheet off her head momentarily so she could look at him properly. “Ben. It’s not stupid. I think that’s amazing. And I… I’d love to read your comics. One day. If you’d let me.”

Ben looked at her with warm whiskey eyes, staring at her like she just hung the sun in the sky, and she felt a blush creep over her own cheeks. “What’s his name?” she asked, voice small, shy in a way she’d never felt before.

Then again, no one had ever looked at her like _that_ before.

“Kylo Ren,” he replied, voice matching her own, small and intimate and smooth like aged whiskey, and Rey almost felt her heart melt.

“It’s perfect,” she whispered.

The next time there was a knock at the door, Rey jumped up eager to answer it. She swung the door open wide, giggling with glee at the barrage of small children in their festive costumes, joyfully singing out their sweet little ‘trick or treat’s. Passing each of them candy brought a warm feeling to her stomach, her heart, her _soul_ , and she relished in the fact that she was part of something that brought so much joy, even if just for a day. Children deserved that, she thought, deserve to be happy, to believe in magic and fairytales with happy endings.

Ben stood beside her, giving her a small squeeze as they watched the kids scamper down the hallway to the next door. An overwhelming feeling of contentment passed over Rey as they stood there enjoying the sight of youthful bliss. She couldn’t help but feel like she wanted more days like this, more days with Ben and joy and not just doing things out of necessity but because they brought _happiness_.

Somehow she knew that nothing would ever quite be the same after today. Something in the universe had shifted and changed, brought her to exactly where she needed to be at exactly the right moment. She smiled up at Ben from underneath her makeshift costume and even though she knew he couldn’t see her, it felt like he could as he looked down at her with his own warm smile. Smiles genuine and full of belonging and eyes full of promise, knowing that this was just the beginning.

_Five years later…_

October 31st started just like any other day for Rey Solo. She woke up to soft sleepy kisses, Ben’s arms holding her tight. She mixed up pumpkin pancakes while Ben brewed coffee, adding an extra splash of hazelnut creamer to hers, just like she liked it. They curled up on the couch to eat breakfast and watch the morning news, talking about their plans for the day.

After a long run through the park, they cleaned up with a long luxurious bath, Rey teasing that it only took them five years to find a big enough bathtub to accommodate Ben’s massive frame. He splashed bubbles at her in retort, causing a fit of giggles.

They spent the afternoon carving pumpkins. Rey had become exceptionally good at it and always tried some intricate design she found on Pinterest, while Ben preferred the classic Jack-O-Lantern look. Rey saved the scraps to roast and puree into a pumpkin pie later in the week.

Once the pumpkins were carved and set on the front steps, they changed into their costumes, always coordinated with a new theme. This year they decided on a _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ theme, Rey wearing a cat mask and red trench coat over a slim grey dress, while Ben wore a dog mask and simple blue suit.

Their night always started curled on the couch watching _Hocus Pocus_ , followed by _Casper_ (the original, of course), as they gave out candy to all the trick-or-treaters that rang the doorbell to their brownstone. Rey loved all the costumes, complimenting every child that graced their doorstep, but she absolutely squealed in delight every time one of them wore the superhero costume from the comic book series Ben had published two years prior. “Ooh look!” she’d squeak joyfully, “It’s Kylo Ren! Famous bad boy tuned good now fighting the evil First Order and saving the day! Ben, come look!”

Sometime in the evening, after it was far too dark and late for trick-or-treaters, they would turn in their costumes in favor of cozy pajamas, pour some drinks and cuddle on the couch with a scary movie. As long as Ben was by her side to hold her tight and keep her safe, Rey decided the occasional scary movie wasn’t so bad. Ben liked to talk over the scary parts, shielding her eyes and covering her ears when necessary, assuring her everything would be okay. Sometimes this didn’t go well. The first time they watched _The Shining_ Rey threw all their plates against the wall, shattering them as she cried and screamed at him for making her watch a movie where everyone dies. Eventually he had been able to calm her down enough to finish the movie, promising her that Wendy and Danny make it out of the maze alive. Tonight’s flick of choice was _Scream_ , which had Rey hollowing with laughter far more than expected. Their plate would remain intact tonight.

Rey loved Halloween with Ben, and every day before and every day after. She curled up closer to him on the couch, imagining how one day they would have miscreants of their own, showering them with love and candy and costumes and take them trick-or-treating. She smiled, knowing the love and joy they would bring to their family, to the world, already feeling warm and happy at the thought of the memories they’d create.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Let's be friends on [Twitter<3](https://twitter.com/adamsnackler)


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